NT govt plays 'petty politics' on Don Dale

Nigel Scullion says the NT is playing politics in the wake of the juvenile justice royal commission. (AAP)

Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion will force all states to respond to the NT youth justice royal commission's recommendations.

UpdatedUpdated 9 January 2018

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Canberra has accused the Northern Territory of playing "petty politics" over funding the recommendations of the juvenile justice royal commission and says all states will need to respond to the findings of the inquiry.

NT Labor last month accepted a recommendation from the jointly-funded inquiry to close Darwin's notorious Don Dale Detention Centre but it's still unclear if the Commonwealth will help pay for its replacement.

A stoush continues between the two governments following an unmatched $50 million pledge to build new Don Dale and Alice Springs detention facilities.

"But the Northern Territory government says, 'I've got $50 million, where's yours?' because it was about politics, just petty politics," he said on Tuesday.

"Don Dale has always been the responsibility of the Northern Territory."

By late February the Gunner government will deliver proposed plans for new infrastructure, with work set to begin within 18 months.

Mr Scullion says the Commonwealth will release a "fully funded" response to the final report in the "very near future" and adds there'll be ramifications for youth justice systems across the country.

"I will be ensuring that every other jurisdiction has some sort of a response," he said.

The minister says all states will need to make changes in "everything from the training of guards to the level of amenities" inside juvenile jails.

Footage of teenagers being tear-gassed, spithooded and shackled to restraint chairs in NT youth prisons sparked the $54 million probe last year and prompted Labor to inject millions of dollars to overhaul the broken system.

Source AAP

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